Home · Verification

How verification works on Shishya

Every fact you see here is checked. We pull information from official government, university, and exam authority sources, then verify each fact in two ways: our AI checks the source automatically every few days, and verified students and professionals from our community confirm what they know personally. The badge next to each fact shows what's been verified, when, and by whom. If something looks wrong to you, click the badge and tell us. Every flag is reviewed. Every correction is acknowledged.

The students who help us keep Shishya accurate earn recognition for it. This is how we stay different from any general AI tool: we don't just give you answers; we show you why you can trust them.

The five badge states

Hover any badge for the exact verification details. Click any badge anywhere on the platform to come back to this page.

• Fully verified · NIRF

  Fully verified

  AI-verified against the official source within the last 30 days and confirmed by 3+ community users (or by a Trusted Verifier or Domain Expert). This is the strongest status a fact can have.

• Verified · CBSE

  Verified

  AI-verified within the last 60 days, or confirmed by 2+ community users. Trustworthy for most purposes.

• Sourced · official source

  AI-verified

  Auto-verified by AI against the official source, but no human has reviewed it yet. A real signal — but AI can misread sources (especially tables and PDFs). Treat this as one input, not absolute truth. Help us upgrade it by clicking "I checked the source — this is accurate" when you read the page.

• Needs verification · UPSC

  Needs verification

  Last verification is more than 60 days old, or the source URL has changed structure, or AI verification found a discrepancy. The displayed fact is probably still correct, but we're queueing a re-check. Don't rely on it for a time-critical decision without checking the source yourself.

• Not yet verified

  Not yet verified

  New content awaiting its first verification. We show this honestly instead of hiding it behind a fake check mark. Help us upgrade it.

• Flagged · review pending

  Flagged

  Multiple users have flagged this as incorrect, or AI verification keeps failing. An admin is reviewing within 24 hours. Don't rely on this fact yet.

Section-level summary badge

Some pages also show a single summary badge at the top — useful on mobile or for content-heavy pages where dozens of per-fact badges would clutter the layout.

Why community verification matters

AI can misread sources. Tables, PDF formats, and government notification language are particularly error-prone. Human verification is the corrective signal that catches what the AI misses — and importantly, catches when the source itself is wrong or outdated.

Students who help us keep Shishya accurate earn recognition for it. No money, no rewards convertible to money — just visible badges next to your name that compound over time: Contributor → Verifier → Trusted Verifier → Domain Expert. A Trusted Verifier who cleared UPSC is qualitatively different from a ChatGPT answer, and that's the kind of signal Shishya surfaces.

What this commits us to

The verification system is the product, not a checkbox. It commits Shishya to:

• Real ongoing infrastructure to keep AI verification running across thousands of facts.
• Real moderation effort to handle disputes and badge promotions.
• Permanent commitment to source citation discipline. No shortcuts ever.
• Treating community contributors as genuine partners — with respect, recognition, and responsiveness.
• Transparency about what's not yet verified. The "Not yet verified" badge has to be allowed to exist visibly.

Where we are in the rollout

Phase 1 (today): The badge UI is live across the platform. Most facts currently show "AI-verified" against their original ingestion source — that's an honest signal, not a fake check.

Phase 2 (next): The automated AI re-verification job runs continuously, refreshing every fact on the cadence appropriate to its type (exam dates daily, visa policy weekly, syllabi quarterly).

Phase 3 (after that): Community verification — click "I checked the source — this is accurate" or "this looks wrong" on any badge. Contribution counts accrue and turn into visible badges next to your name.

Phase 4-5: Trusted Verifier and Domain Expert promotions. Domain Experts upload credentials (admission letter, employment letter, etc.) — we verify, then permanently delete the document.